Machine for applying films to pouring orifices of bottle containers



July 4, 1939. R. E. FORD 2,164,908

MACHINE FOR APLYHIG FILMS TO POURING ORIFICES OF BOTTLE CONTAINERS Original Filed July l5, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l t'tofnegs.

July 4, 1939.

MACHINE FOR APPLYING FILMS T0 POURING ORIFICES OF BOTTLE CONTAINERS original Filed Juy 15, 19:53

. E. FORD z shets-sheet 2 A 'ttor-nays Patented July 4, 1939' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR APPLYING FILMS TO POUR- ING ORIFICES OF BOTTLE CONTAINERS Minneapolis, Minn.

Original application July 15, 1933, Serial No.

Divided and this application February 19, 1937, Serial No. 126,548

6 Claims.

My invention relates to machines for applying films to pouring orices of bottle containers. It is the object of my invention to provide means for applying simultaneously to a large number of bottle containers, and specifically to the top and side of the rims of said bottles, a substance such as parain wax which will not have any capillary aiiinity for the liquid to be poured, and, hence, Which will prevent dripping of the liquid after it is poured. The particular use of the machine is in the preparation of bottles employed for containing bluing wherein the liquid must be poured from the bottles frequently and wherein dripping has serious disadvantages. In such a liquid, which is principally water, if an extremely thin lm of non-wetable material such as wax is applied to the top and outside of the rim of the bottle, since such a surface will not be Wet by the liquid, the surface tension of the .liquid going back into the container will cause the liquid to move back when the bottle is erect Without dripping.

More specifically it is an object of my invention to provide mechanism for applying simultaneously to a multiplicity of bottles and to the top and circumferential sides of the rims thereof immediately surrounding the pouring orifice a thin lm of drip-free such as wax, and to attach said nlm thus made thin and adherent so that it will not crack or break in use of the bottle and in the repeated application of a stopper thereto, but will remain permanently attached.

It is a further object of my invention to employ in conjunction with my machine the containers or cases in which the bottles are originally shipped, and to provide means for holding the bottles of said containers therein with their necks protruding therefrom and simultaneously to dip the rims of said bottles into a hath of melted wax so that all the bottles in. the case or container will have simultaneously applied thereto said melted wax.

It is a further object oi my invention to provide means for lifting the entire group of bottles in their original case from rim contact with the melted wax and to hold said bottles in a tiltedor oblique position.

It is a further object of my invention to have the neck ends of the bottles supported upon means which will cause the surplus melted wax at the mouth of the bottle to drain away, specically to support said neck of the bottle upon a wire or wires which, being held in obliquo or slanting position, will receive all surplus heated liquid wax and guide it quickly away from the bottle rims to return to the melted wax receptacle and thus insure that the nal film of wax shall be thin and uniform in character and not have present .globules or thickened portions which could be knocked off and thus would destroy the drip-free character of the pouring orifices of the bottles.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof, and the novel features of my invention are particularly pointed out in the claims.

This application is a division of application Serial Number 680,598, led July l5, 1933.

In the drawings, illustrating an application of my invention,-

Fig. 1 is a sectional longitudinal View of a normal carton of bottles with an element of the machine applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a top plan` view of what is sho-wn in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the holding frame inverted and showing the necks of the bottles held in the container protruding through the receiving apertures of the holder. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan View of Ya portion of a bottle-holding carton showing the bottles positioned in individual compartments as the same are shipped from the manufacturer. Fig. 5 is a part sectional transverse elevation view showing the means for holding the heated wax and dipping the bottle rims thereinto. Fig. 6 is a partial sectional plan View taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 5. Fig. '7 is a fragmentary elevation view of the upper right-hand corner of what is shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation View of the upper part of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5 taken at right angles to the parts as shown there. Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of part of what is shown in the upper part of Fig. 5 showing how the bottles are held upon the singularly-disposed supporting rods for the purposes of draining.

As shown, an insulated trough l5 supported upon a stand i5 is adapted to hold wax or other suitable material l1 which is heated by electrical elements I8 served by wires I9. Within the trough l5 is a supporting grid 20 comprising side members 2|, 22 which overlap the edges 23 and 24 of the trough or receptacle I5 and which are pivotally secured upon a rod 25 journaled in ears 26 and 21 fast on the trough member I5. By means of cross supports 28 and pairs of separate longitudinal supports or Wires 29 or pairs of contacting longitudinal supports or Wires 3U, a grid is built up in position to receive the ends of bottles positioned in the cartons in which they are packed and shipped, the ends of the bottles being supported upon longitudinal grid members 29, 3D, as clearly indicated in Figs. 5, 8 and 9.

As indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, bottles come in cartons 3l, usually two dozen in a carton, said cartons being divided into compartments 32 by means of suitable longitudinal and transverse partitions 33. I provide a cover member 34, shown in plan in Fig. 2, which has surrounding side members 35, preferably flared at the edges, as indicated at 36, and having a top 31 formed with a multiplicity of openings 38 positioned to come directly above the necks of bottles, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The cover member 34 has handles 39 by which it is positioned, and depending portions 40 extending from the ends by means of which the device is rested upon a table or platform with the bottles positioned therein.

In using this device the cover flaps 4l of the carton or packing case are turned down, as indicated in Fig. l, and the cover .member 34 is placed over the carton so as to rest upon the upper edges thereof, as clearly sho-wn in Figs. 1 and 2, in which latter figure the upper ends or rims of the bottle necks are visible. Both carton and cover member are then turned into theV position of Fig. 3, where the bottles will gravitate down the compartments 32 and the necks thereof will protrude through the openings 3B, being held by cover member 34 and its supporting members 40. With the bottles in this position, by use of the handles 3B, the carton and cover, with the necks of the bottles protruding, is transferred to the trough member l5. As shown in Fig. 8, the leg members 4l] come on each side o-f said trough member, the top 31 of the cover member rests upon the outer edges of the trough member and the bottle necks will be positioned upon the supports 29 and 30, where the rims will be immersed within the heated Wax, the level of which is indicated at 42. After they have been immersed for a length of time suflicient thoroughly to heat the bottle rims, the grid member formed within the sides 2| and 22 is rocked upon its axis 25 by means of a foot treadle 43 connected by a link 44 and maintained in normal level position by a compression spring indicated diagrammatically at 45. When the carrier is rocked to the position shown in Fig. 9, the dottedline position in Fig. 5, it is retained in that position for a sufiicient length of time for the surplus melted wax to drain off. This draining is 'effected by the wax forming globules which run down the wires 29 or 3Q. And since the bottle necks have been heated very hot in the melted wax, and the removal of surface wax along the wires is exceedingly rapid, an effective draining will take place so that the thinnest possible films of wax will be left on the tops and circumferential sides of the bottle rims.

Since the simultaneous immersion of a large number of bottle necks has a tendency to cool the Wax and cause it to congeal around the rims of the bottle necks, it is necessary to maintain they wax in the trough 25J at a quite high temperature. This not only has the effect of overcoming the aforesaid tendency to congeal wax about the bottlel necks, but because the air within the bottles is quickly heated it is caused to flow downwardly at the edge of the rim of the bottle on the inside and repel inflow of wax. When the bottle rims have reached substantially the temperature of the wax, and the carrier is rocked to the position of Fig. 9 and the dotted-line position 46 of Fig. 5, thev bottles are held angularly positioned for draining. All of the surplus wax on the outside of the bottle rims will run around such rims to their lowermost points, Where they contact with the wires 2S or 3E! and the Wax will quickly run down said wires and drip back into the container 23 before the bottle necks cool sufficiently to solidify the wax. When the draining is complete the case of bottles is removed and reverted to hold the bottles in erect position, where the exceedingly thin film of remaining on the rims and outside of the rims of the bottles quickly cools and solidies and the bottles are in position for transport and use.

The advantages of my invention have been quite fully pointed out in connection with the detailed description thereof. A primary advantage consists in the provision of apparatus whereby a multiplicity of bottles, in practice usually two or three dozen, can have their rims simultaneously treated to apply a film there-to Without removal of the bottles from the carton in which they have been shipped. This greatly facilitates and speeds up the operation of applying the films to the bottle rims. A further great advantage is the very simple and efficient means of quick draining provided which insures removal of all excepting the thinnest possible film of wax. As already pointed out, this is of the utmost importance, since if the wax film has any appreciable body it will crack and break off in use.

I claim:

l. In a bottle-dipping machine a standard embodying a wax-holding receptacle of considerable extent, means for heating wax therein, a grid forming a series of parallel supports which in horizontal position extend beneath the surface of said heated wax a suitable distance and are heated thereby, and means for applying the entire group of bottles while in a shipping case each in an individual compartment to said grid so that the rims of the bottles will be ield by said pre-heated supports.

2. In a bottle-dipping machine a standard embodying a wax-holding receptacle of considerable extent, means for heating wax therein, a grid forming series of parallel supports which in hori- Zontal position extend beneath the surface of said heated wax a suitable distance and are heated thereby, means for applying the entire group of bottles While in a shipping case each in an individual compartment to said grid so that the rims of the bottles will be held by said pre-heated supports, and means to tilt the grid into an angular position so that excess melted war; may run down said heated supports and back into the receptacle.

3. In a bottle-dipping machine a standard embodying a wax-holding receptacle of considerable extent, means for heating wax therein, a .grid including a multiplicity of parallel wires adapted in one position of the grid to be held beneath the surface of said heated wax a suitable distance and be heated thereby, said wires being spaced apart distances corresponding to the rows of bottles as they come in a shipping case each in an individual compartment, and means to support said shipping case so that the necks of the bottles while held therein may protrude therefrom and the rims of said bottles will contact and be supported by said pre-heated wires.

4. In a bottle-dipping machine a standard embodying a wax-holding'receptacle o-f considerable extent, means for heating wax therein, a grid including a multiplicity of parallel Wires adapted in one position of the grid to be held beneath the surface of said heated Wax a suitable distance and be heated thereby, said wires being spaced apart distances corresponding to the rows of bottles as they come in a shipping case each in an individual compartment, means to support said shipping case so that the necks of the bottles While held therein may protrude therefrom and the rims of said bottles will contact and be sup ported by said pre-heated Wires, and means for swinging said grid and Wires and the bottles supported thereon into a tilted position out of the Wax so that the excess melted Wax on the bottle rims may drain off and run down said Wires back into the receptacle.

5. A machine for treating the pouring rims of bottles to render them non-dripping, comprising means for holding a body of liquid material such as parafiin wax, means for heating said material to cause it to melt and have a desired high temperature, supporting wires normally held Within and a predetermined distance from the surface of the melted Wax and heated thereby, means for applying bottles While held in a shipping carton so that bottle rims will engage said pre-heated supports and be held dipped a desired distance into the liquid, and means for moving the supports to withdraw the bottle necks from the liquid and hold them resting on said pre-heated supports in a draining position.

6. A machine for treating the pouring rims of bottles to render them non-dripping, comprising means for holding a body of liquid material such as parain wax, means for heating said material to cause it to melt and have a desired high tempera-ture, supporting Wires normally held Within and a predetermined distance from the sLuface of the melted Wax and heated thereby, means for applying bottles while held in a shipping carton so the bottle rims may engage said supports and be held dipped a desired distance into the liquid, and means for swinging the supports into an angular position to Withdraw the bottle necks from the liquid and hold them so that excess liquid will drain therefrom and pass down said heated Wires to return to the body of melted Wax.

ROBERT E. FORD. 

